Intro
An Indian trader using coindcx lost 3BTC due to security vunerability in there system.They initially brushed off the user and even blocked him in there customer support channel till Indian crypto community rallied behind user. The exchange has promised to investigate the matter. I am hoping user gets back his funds soon.
I will tell you how to avoid such situations and how can an Indian trader trade safely with peace of mind.
Latest Update
The user is finally refunded back his funds of 3 BTC after heavy rallying of Indian crypto community. However as usual company brushed it off saying it was a bug and not apologized for there behavior. I will still advise not to use any Centralised exchanges. They are easy targets of hackers and are not transparent in there workings.
Always choose Decentralised option wherever possible
Never trade on centralised exchanges if there is Decentralised and p2p option available. In Decentralised exchanges you have the custody of your funds at all time and also these exchanges are not on radar of hackers like centralised exchanges as no funds are stored in these exchanges.
Some good options are -
- Kyberswap, Loopring, Uniswap etc ( For ethereum and ethereum based tokens)
- Paxful P2P (INR to bitcoin)
- Binance P2P (INR to crypto)
- Atomic Dex ( cross chain atomic swap, must try , still in beta )
- Use Indian centralised exchanges cautiously as most of them don't have good security ,nor they have good liquidity.
How to convert INR and get good liquidity for it
The major pain point for Indian traders is INR liquidity and dependence on less secure centralised Indian exchanges for that.
Try to use P2P mode where ever is available , for e.g BTC to INR or ETH to INR or XRP to INR. XRP is a great asset for transferring value among different exchanges due to it's fast transaction time, low fees and good liquidity in markets.
1- Go to any P2P market buy BTC , ETH, XRP etc
2- Transfer the asset to Decentralised exchange or very reliable centralised exchanges ( with high liquidity , high trust and track record)
3- Trade in different crypto assets within different exchanges as per your wish
4- For withdrawal , convert your earnings to one of the major crypto like BTC, ETH, XRP etc and trade for INR in P2P market
5- When not actively trading keep your funds in personal wallets either in hardware wallets or paper wallets or non custodial mobile wallets,
6- Even If you are day trader, try to daily withdraw your funds to your personal wallet , you may incur some fees but you will feel always be safe as you don't have to worry whatever hacks or things happen with exchanges
Exchanges will come and go but if you practice self security , your chances of losing money on hacks, scams etc will reduce tremendously. As they say prevention is better than cure.
Just like prevention is best way for ongoing Covid19 pandemic , taking best preventive measures while trading is best solution for never loosing your funds.
Beware of self declared experts and youtubers
Don't follow youtubers , crypto influencers blindly. Most of them don't have sufficient technical knowledge, due to referral earnings and promotions they can mislead you. Always do your own research. Some of so called Indian crypto influencers are promoting unsafe low liquidity Indian exchanges for the sake of getting promotional money, never follow such type of influencers.
This is still an experimental field and there will be many failures till this field will mature and a solid industry will form. So blindly following anyone's advice may lead to losses.
Try to increase your technical knowledge in this field slowly, day by day and try to do your own research and analysis.
Conclusion
Crypto and decentralisation have been developed to remove intermediaries , create new opportunities , use cases and fairer economy , it's not a get rich quick scheme. Always follow best security practices , avoid Centralised crypto services as much as possible. Try to involve in governance and consensus besides just trading. Help others and empower others. Crypto is meant for empowering everybody not making just new Jeff bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
Most of the current crypto entrepreneurs are just opportunist and don't follow crypto ethics. They kind of form a team of oligarchs which Pats back of each other. They make there empire on gullible users by showing them moon while silently stealing there money.
Let me know in comments what you think about coindcx fiasco ?